MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Temer told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper in an interview that he would resign only if "they made him do so." Temer also expressed intention to work as the country's president till December 2018 to continue implementing reforms.
20 May 2017, 03:16 GMT
The Supreme Court has approved a probe into allegations that Temer had authorized bribes to hush up a witness in a corruption scandal surrounding the state oil firm Petrobras. The probe was launched after Brazil’s O Globo newspaper published a report claiming it had an audio record that proved the center-right president had discussed paying money to jailed lawmaker Eduardo Cunha. Temer denied any wrongdoing.
Earlier in May, Temer called on the court to stop the investigation and expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of the audio record.
Michel Tember took over from former leader Dilma Rousseff after she was impeached in 2016 for allegedly misusing state funds. If he leaves, the top job will go to the lower house speaker until the scheduled election in October 2018.
